The witching hour...

[Leah, Patrick & Maximus!]

I guess you could say that Maximus is like a little baby and at a certain hour each night gets very over tired. Instead of falling asleep he gets crazzzyyyy, running, barking and trying to bite our feet. Its almost like he needs to let out a burst of energy for a couple of minutes and then passes out! I am curious if anyone else has this problem as well? I only call it a problem because its a little like he becomes posessed. I have let him out in our hallway to run around and burn energy but then I CANNOT catch him (and I am pretty fast). I am afraid that he is going to hurt himself when trying to get away from me. I know that I have now associated the hall with running but he does this no matter where we are. Any ideas??

[jill]

Is this an apartment hallway which is open to other tenants or is it a hallway within your home? I wonder if you change the structure of his daily "romp" if it might make it easier to catch him. I would start carrying some really tasty treats that he can't resist when you normally CAN catch him and every time he comes when called, give him a tiny piece of something easily swallowed like cheese or liver. When you let him have his crazy time could you let him drag a light long line (under supervision of course) and maybe move his time to a place where you have him contained (like an enclosed baseball field at a school )so that he can REALLY run. Maybe throw a ball for him so he gets to let off some steam and then at the end of play time (half hour to an hour)offer him that great treat and pick up his line and walk home. I would probably work on the recall in very controlled circumstances and make sure he can't get away from you in the meantime. Every time he ignores you when you try to catch him, the behaviour is being reinforced so I wouldn't chase him or try to catch him anymore and would only acknowledge him and reward him when he comes to you. Our boy gets pretty "zoomey" in the evenings as well! We have hard wood floors so it's pretty interesting to watch lol!

[Tatiana]

My dogs become very rambunctious every evening after their dinner... Of course, they have each other, so it's easier for them to just rough-house and play tug-of-war or whatnot with one another for a few minutes... I take them out for long evening strolls at around 7:30 PM to tire them out for the evening and then they just curl up on the couch and lounfe around with their hooves / bones... The best way to dissipate some of your dog's energy is to just take them for a brisk evening walk... It's good for the dog, and it's good for you! Walking dogs on their leashes is really one of the best and healthiest form of exercises for them and it's good for their emotional well-being as well. Cheer!

[Leroy Brown]

Our lil guy has his spurts of energy too. Its hilarious, except our neighbors under us complain all the time when he does it. He tromps around making his specific rounds as if he is in a race on his personally designed track. My pitbull would do this too. I think its just them letting out a burst of contained energy. I agree though, if you can, find a contained area (we sometimes use and enclosed tennis court) to let him just tear around as fast as he can. It is fun to watch, and great for them!

[Leah, Patrick & Maximus!]

Thank you all for your replies! Yes, I do let him run around an enclosed area when I can and it works no matter what time of the day it is. We live in NYC and at 11:00pm its hard to find somewhere that we can let him run around, if you know what I mean. We walk him often but that doesn't seem to get rid of the energy.
I feel much better knowing that I am not the only one whose dog goes a little nuts. I guess it's also harder for us to deal with because our apartment is not large and there is not a ton of room for him to run. One day I am going to film his witching hour and post it here.

[J. V.]

I think I just experienced this last night. I was just trying to play with Tater to get him some exercise and he went bat-poop crazy and got the zoomies, barkies and playbiting. It was FANTASTIC to watch because it's the first time it's happened. He's a 4 month old puppy who is definitely an afternoon and nighttime active dog.

Luckily I have a townhouse, so there's no one to disturb except for me and the cats, who watched the whole thing, probably even moreso disgusted with this new creature I brought into THEIR home.

[Leah, Patrick & Maximus!]

Oh yes...it is quite an interesting act to watch! Soon your adorable Tater will have a route that he runs each time the crazy hour happens! Maximus manages to fly onto the couch, bounce off the top of the couch, run in circles around the coffee table, shimmy under the couch, around the back of the couch, shimmy under the couch again....and repeats this until someone stops him or he needs water! And who said frenchies are not agile??

[Elaine]

Flor has her witching hour every night - though it's lessening this past month... She will race around and then lose control of herself with biting and rolling - even smacking her head on the wooden floor. Sometimes it looks like her eyes are about to pop out of her head - not from banging it but from her overexcitement! I have put her in the garden but that doesn't help and if I so much as move my arms or legs she will go for them. At first it freaked me out, but then I realised it's just as you say - an overtired baby! I try to wear her out throughout the evening and then put her in her cage around witching hour time. This has worked pretty well for us.